Overview

This workshop brings together the expertise and research experience of a group of “scholar-practitioners” of the Taiwanese religious movement Yiguandao (“Way of Pervading Unity”), the researchers of Project A3 of the Collaborative Research Centre 1199, and interested colleagues. As the University of Leipzig is among a number of European universities and Yiguandao communities that the Taiwanese research group will visit in June, this meeting will help to further our knowledge and mutual understanding of research related to the global spread of Yiguandao.

Guided by preliminary research observations, we assume that the spread of this very much “Chinese” religious organization extends beyond the confines of “Chinese” diasporas. The purposeful proselytization of locals yields great potential for researchers to develop insights into processes of religious mobility and transculturation. Thus, our workshop will delve into the dynamics of how Yiguandao negotiates ways to address the culturally specific needs of their “Chinese” adherents on the one hand and the self-proclaimed aspiration to become a “true” world religion that cuts across cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities on the other. The participants will present and discuss research experiences and theoretical issues related to the globalization and transcultural adaptation of Taiwanese religious communities. Because this topic has not yet been studied in detail, this workshop will be a first step into a larger endeavour to insert this topic into more general debates about globalization, religion, and processes of spatial transformations.

Programme

9:00 am: Philip Clart 柯若樸: 開幕歡迎詞 (Welcome and Introduction)

9:15–10:15 am: Nikolas Broy 百可思: 聯合研究中心簡介及一貫道全球化研究初步報告 (Introduction to the Collaborative Research Centre and a Preliminary Research Report about the Globalization of Yiguandao). Discussant: Lin Rongze 林榮澤.

10:15–11:15 am: Lin Rongze 林榮澤: 一貫道在韓國及緬甸的傳播與發展 (The Spread and Development of Yiguandao in South Korea and Myanmar). Discussant: Nikolas Broy 百可思.

11:15–11:30 am: Coffee Break

11:30–12:30 am: Research Report, Part One

Hong Mingqian 洪銘謙 & Huang Qianhua 黃千華: 東南亞一貫道的發展：以星加坡、馬來西亞、泰國為例 (The Development of Yiguandao in Southeast Asia: Taking Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as an Example)

12:30–1:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:30–3:00 pm: Research Report, Part Two

Heung Tsz Yiu 香子耀: 一貫道在香港的發展現況 (The Development and Current Situation of Yiguandao in Hong Kong)

Yang Yijian 楊意堅 & Yang Xiumei 楊秀梅: 一貫道在澳洲、紐西蘭的發展現況 (The Development and Current Situation of Yiguandao in Australia and New Zeeland)